Machine for rolling car-wheels.



Paten'ted Dec. l6, I902.

H W FOWLER MACHINE FOB BOLUNG GAB WHEELS.

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Shut I.

I Even-07- Pa tanted Dec. 16, m2.-

' H. W. FOWLER.

MACHINE FOR ROLLING CAR WHEELS. I A licmim filed July 3, 1902. (InModel) I 4 2 Shbets-$heet 2v V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERVEY FOWLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR ROLLING CAR-WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 715,777, dated December16, 1902.

Application filed July 3, 1902. Serial No. 114,201. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Beit known that I, HERVEY W. FOWLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Rolling Car-Wheels,of which the following is a specificationt In United States LettersPatent No. 394,565, granted to me December 18, 1888, Ishowand describe amachine for rolling car-wheels from cast-steel blanks, which have a hubin its desired or finished form, a web of the desired thickness in thefinished wheel, and a rim which is thicker than is desired in thefinished wheel and having a rudimentary flange, said machine operatingto develop the rudimentary flange into perfect form and reduce thethickness of the rim for producing a caststeel wheel having the metal ofthe hub and web in its normal condition and the metal of the rim andflange condensed in radial and peripheral lines. The wheels produced bysaid machine are slightly larger in diameter than the blank'from whichthey are rolled and possess peripheral inaccuracies or variations whichrender it necessary to subject the wheel to the action of atruing-machina-such, for instance, as disclosed in United States LettersPatent No. 351,430, granted to me October 26, 1886-the latter machineoperating by rolling action to slightly reduce the diameterof the wheelby further condensing the metal of the rim and correcting suchperipheral variations as may exist therein.

The main object of my present invention is the production of a machinecapable of performing the rolling operation described in my aforesaidLetters Patent No. 394,565, as well as the truing operation described inmy aforesaid Patent No. 351,430.

To this end my invention, broadly stated, consists in the combination ofthree or more positively-driven tread-working rolls having working facescorresponding to the tread and flange of a finished car-wheel, a pair ofrimsupporting rolls for supporting the rim of a wheel at the two sidesof its web against the thrusting action of one of said tread-workingrolls, and means whereby the relative posi tion of the tread-workingrolls and the rimsupporting rolls may be shifted for permitting the rimof a wheel-blank to be rolled between located between the standards Aand A.

said rim-supporting rolls and one of said tread-working rolls andthereafter between all of said tread-working rolls away from the actionof saidrim-supporting rolls.

After a detail description of a machine embodying my invention thefeatures deemed novel will be specified in the claims hereunto annexed.

Referring to the drawings furnished and forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 illustrates in partial longitudinal verticalsection a machine embodying my invention, a car-wheel being showntherein in the position it occupies during the initial rolling operation. Fig. 2 is a vertical lateral section of said machine; and Fig. 3is a section on the line so as of Fig. 1, showing the driving-gears.

The main frame or housings may be of any form which will afford suitablebearings and supports for the several working parts of the machine. Asshown in the drawings, said frame consists of uprights'or standards A,A, A A A and A The working rolls are The main tread-working roll B issupported by a yoke or carriage O, which moves in guides or ways a a inthe uprights A and A, and attached to said carriage is a piston d, whichworks in a hydraulic cylinder D, the latter operating to move saidcarriage and apply the necessary pressure to the roll B, as' will beunderstood. The casting forming the cyl inder D also serves to unite theupper ends of the standards A and A, said casting being bolted to thestandards, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and.2.

The roll B has a working face conforming at b with the tread of thedesired car-wheel, and at b it has a groove which conforms to the flangedesired in the finished wheels. At the ends of said working face thereare annular vertical faces 19 b which confine or restrict the metal inthe rim of the blank against lateral expansion. Said roll is providedwith a shaft b mount-ed in suitable bearings in the arms 0 and o of thecarriage C, said shaft being positively driven by means of flexibleconnections from gearing to be hereinafter referred to.

Mounted between the standards A and A at the base of the machine is ahydraulic cylinder E, having a piston e, to which is attached a carriageF, the latter being guided by and between the two standards and havingits ends f and f projecting laterally therefrom, as best shown in Fig.2. Mounted in the ends f and f of the carriage F are two tread-workingrolls G and H, which correspond in size and shape to the roll B, beforedescribed, and said rolls are positively driven in a similar manner, aswill be hereinafter described. The rim-supporting rolls I and J aremounted at an angle to each other and to the axis of the maintread-working roll B, the axis of each of said rim-supporting rollsbeing inclined downwardlyfrom their outer to their inner ends andpresenting annular working faces t' and j directly beneath the roll B.Roll I is supported in inclined bearings i and 1 in the standards A andA and said roll is confined against longitudinal movement by the collarsi i and f.

Roll J is supported at its inner end in an inclined bearingj and itsouter end is mounted in a slidable bearing j", to which is attached apiston 70, which works in a hydraulic cylinder K, the latter operatingto move said roll longitudinally for permitting the insertion andremoval of a wheel, as will be explained.

The inner end of the rim-supporting rollsl and J are each provided witha projecting annular working facet andj and a vertical annular facet'and j. The facesi andj in their sectional contour exactly conform tothe contour of the under surface of the rim of a finished car-wheel, anda wheel-blank in position for the initial rolling operation is suspendedvertically upon said projecting faces 11 andj, and the vertical faces iandj serve to properly restrict the rim of the blank or wheel againstliability of lateral expansion. Because of the angular arrangement ofsaid rolls the end faces 2' and i do not contact with the web to of theblank or wheel W, said web being thereby left in its original orunworked condition, and it is to be noted that the space between the tworolls, which is partially occupied by said web, is greater than thethickness of the web, so that said rolls will be entirely free fromcontact with the wheel or blank when the latter is raised, ashereinafter explained.

Roll I is positively driven from the main driving-shaft L, which ismounted in the standards A and A said roll being connected to said shaftby a well-known form of flexible coupling Z. On the shaft L, between thestandards A and A is a gear Z which drives a gear 121, the lattermeshing with and driving a gear on, which in turn drives two gears 77.and 0, mounted on shafts n and o. The rimworking rolls G and H aredriven by the shafts n and 0', said rolls being connected to said shaftsby flexible couplings p, as illus trated in Fig. 1. The gear Z on themain shaft also drives a gear g on a shaft q, the latter being coupledbya flexible coupling g for driving the main tread-working roll B.

Gear 1 on shaft q drives a gear 1', which in turn drives a gear 3 on ashaft 3, which has its bearings in the standards A, A and A On saidshaft is a gear t, which meshes with a gear u on the roll J, said gearbeingso mounted on the roll as to drive the latter and at the same timepermit it to be moved longitudinally, a small roller 1) serving to holdthe gear against the longitudinal movements of the shaft, as will beunderstood.

In the operation of the machine the rimsupporting roll J is drawnoutwardly by means of the hydraulic cylinder K, and the carriage O,carrying the roll B, is raised and carriage F, carrying the rolls G andII, is lowered to permit of the insertion of a wheel or blank W, whichis placed between the rolls, with its rim resting upon the facet of theroll I. The roll J is then pushed forward for supporting the wheel orblank, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Carriage F is then raised so that therolls G and H may act as guides'for the revolving blank, and after themain tread-working roll B is lowered the machine is put in operation byrevolving the main driving-shaft L. During such operation hydraulicpressure is applied to the roll B by means of the cylinder D for causingthe rim of the Wheel or blank to be compressed between the roll B andthe rimsupporting rolls I and J, this initial operation being the sameas described in my aforesaid Letters Patent No. 394,565. After thecompletion of this initial rolling operation the carriages O and F areraised for lifting the Wheel away from the action of the rim-supportingrolls, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The operation of themachine is then continued while hydraulic pressure is being applied toall of the tread-working rolls by means of the cylinders D and E, theWheelW being then wholly supported by said treadworking rolls while therim is being, rolled and trued, as described in my aforesaid LettersPatent No. 351,480. At the completion of this final rolling operationthe finished wheel is removed and another blank inserted, as beforedescribed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for rolling the rims of carwheels, the combination ofthree or more tread-working rolls having working faces corresponding tothe tread and flange of a finished wheel, a pair of rim-supporting rollsfor supporting the rim of a wheel at the two sides of its web againstthe thrusting action of one of said tread-working rolls, saidrimsupporting rolls being so positioned as to prevent the web of thewheel from being rolled thereby, and means for changing the relativepositions of the rim supporting and treadworking rolls without varyingthe working positions of the latter with respect to each other, wherebythe rim of a wheel may be initially rolled between said rim-supportingrolls and one of the tread-working rolls and wheels, the combination ofthree or more posi-' tively driven tread working rolls having workingfaces corresponding to the tread and flange of a finished wheel, a pairof rim-su pporting rolls for supporting the rim of a wheel at the twosides of its web against the thrust-- ing action of one of saidtread-working rolls, said rim-supporting rolls being so positioned as toprevent the web of a wheel from being rolled thereby, and means formoving all of the tread-working rolls in the same direction for changingtheir positions with respect to the rim-supporting rolls, whereby therim of a wheel may be initially rolled between the rim-supporting rollsand one of said treadworking rolls and thereafter rolled between all ofsaid tread-working rolls independently of and away from the action ofsaid rim-supporting rolls, substantially as described.

3. Ina machine for rolling the rims of carwheels, the combination of aframe,a pair of sliding carriages mounted in said frame and movabletoward and from each other, a main tread-Working roll carried by one ofsaid carriages having a working face corresponding to the tread andflange of a finished car-wheel, two or more similar tread-working rollscarried by the other of said carriages, a pair of rim-supporting rollsmounted in said frame for supporting the rim of a wheel at the two sidesof its web against the thrusting action of said main tread-working roll,said rim-supporting rolls being so positioned as to prevent the web of awheel from being rolled thereby, and means for moving said carriages inthe same direction for changing the positions of all of thetread-working rolls with respect to the rim-supporting rolls, wherebythe rim of a wheel may be initially rolled between the rim-supportingrolls and the main tread-working roll, and thereafter rolled between allof said tread-working rolls independently of and away from the action ofsaid rim-supporting rolls, substantially as described.

.4. In a machine for rolling the rims of car- Wheels, the combination ofa frame, a pair of sliding carriages mounted in said frame and movabletoward and from each other, a main tread-working roll carried by one ofsaid carriages having a working face corresponding to the tread andflange of a finished wheel,

two or more similar tread-working rolls carried by the other of saidcarriages, a pair of rim-supporting rolls mounted in said frame forsupporting the rim of a wheel at the two sides of its web against thethrusting action of said main tread-working roll, said rim-supportingrolls being so positioned as to prevent the web of a wheel from beingrolled thereby, means for moving said carriages in the same directionfor changing the positions of all of the tread-working rolls withrespect to the rim-supporting rolls, whereby the rim of a wheel may beinitially rolled between the rimsupporting rolls and the maintread-working roll, and thereafter rolled between all of the treadworking rolls independently of and away from the action ofthevrim-supporting rolls, and means for positively driving all of saidrolls, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for rolling the rims of carwheels, the combination ofthree or more tread-working rolls having working faces corresponding tothe tread and flange of a finished wheel, a pair of rim-supporting rollsfor supporting the rim of a wheel at the two sides of its web againstthe thrusting action of one of said tread-working rolls, saidrim-supportin g rolls being so positioned as to prevent the web ofa'wheel from being rolled thereby, means for moving all of thetread-working rolls in the same direction for changing their positionswith respect to the rim-supporting rolls, whereby the rim of a wheel maybe initially rolled between the rim-supporting rolls and one of saidtread-working rolls and thereafter rolled between all of saidtread-workin g rolls independently of and away from the action of saidrim-supporting rolls, and means for positively driving said rim-supporting rolls independently of the tread-working rolls,substantially as described.

6. In a machine for rolling the rims of carwheels, the combination ofthree or more tread-working rolls having working faces corresponding tothe tread and flange of a finished wheel, a pair of rim-supporting rollsfor supporting the rim of a wheel at the two sides of its web againstthe thrusting action of one ing rolls having their axes inclineddownwardly toward their working ends and having end faces substantiallyat right angles to their axes, and means for moving all of thetread-working rolls in the same direction for changing their positionswith respect to the rim-supporting rolls, whereby the rim of a wheel maybe initially rolled between the rimsupporting rolls and one of saidtread-workingrolls, and thereafter rolled between all of thetread-working rolls independently of and away from the action of therim-supporting rolls without rolling the web of the wheel, subtantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HERVEY W. FOWLER.

Witnesses:

HOWELL BARTLE, CHAPMAN W. FOWLER.

of said tread-working rolls, said rim-support,

